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25 Yard Scope

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leftism View Drop Down
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    Posted: April/17/2011 at 22:30
Based on what I have found so far, this may be a silly question for a few reasons, but I'd like to check here anyway. 

Some background:  I have a bull barrel AR15 with a Leupold Mark AR.  The Leupold is fantastic at 50+ yards, so I have that handled.  But, it's my first long rifle and first scope, so there is much I don't know yet.

Regarding the 25 yard question:  I was at a local informal shooting competition last year, and for the "precision rifle" portion of the competition, they had AQT style simulated-distance standard contrast silhouette targets...placed at 25 yards.

So there stood a bunch of guys with their scoped rifles, and many / most discovered that they couldn't focus down to 25 yards.  Even if they were able to focus at 25 yards, they probably weren't zeroed at 25 yards.  I'm told it didn't go well.

So then I spoke with a friend about Appleseed, and he told me about some of the drills and targets, all at 25 meters / yards.  And the Appleseed Quick And Dirty AQT targets are similar to the ones used at the shooting competition--but low contrast.

I bought some of the Appleseed style AQT targets with the faded gray silhouette.   I'm a pretty good shot with the iron sights on my AR15 carbine, but those 100/200/300 faded silhouettes are virtually impossible for me to see through my iron sights, let alone hit with the necessary precision.

So, to my question:  I'd like to have a scope, that I can put on either my AR carbine or bull barrel, that is well suited for shooting at 25 yards.  i.e. that can focus down to 25 yards and ideally have proper adjustments marked down to 25 yards.

Is there such a thing?

Would something like the Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x work well at 25 yards?  Or the 3-9x?  The Leupold site only says that the 1.5-4x is good for "close and mid-range shooting", but doesn't state a minimum focus distance.

http://swfa.com/Leupold-15-4x20-Mark-AR-Riflescope-P40551.aspx


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stickbow46 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stickbow46 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2011 at 22:42
Why not a red dot,then when you have to go out far add a magnifier?
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leftism View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote leftism Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2011 at 01:31
Well, so far I've avoided red dots because they are relatively expensive, and haven't needed them for 'tactical' shooting with my carbine. 

It looks like an Aimpoint with a magnifier would be over $1,000--although I assume there are cheaper brands.  But the lower power Leupold scope is only $330 with a Burris mount, and I'm assuming has the elevation markings, making it easier to adjust for distance.

In terms of precision shooting though, can a red dot provide the same level of precision as a good magnified optical scope?  I've only shot a few rounds using an EOTech, and wasn't really thrilled with it.

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rjtfroggy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rjtfroggy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2011 at 05:01
 Simple answer is any SWFA SS scope will focus down to 10 meters.Now you need to decide what power level you want/need 6x-10x-16x-20x.
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penguin6 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote penguin6 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2011 at 05:50
Every scope I've had that does not have adjustable parallax was in clear focus at 25 yards and less.  If a 3-9 or 2.5-10 or less works for you at the longer distances you need to shoot, they will work at 25, however the field of view may not be as wide as on some other scopes with lower magnification on the bottom end.  If you will be shooting at fixed targets that you have a few seconds to find, it won't be a problem, but if the targets are very close and/or large even a 3x will sometimes cause a delay in finding the particular spot at which you're trying to aim.  I have a 5-20X on a .308 that doesn't adjust at close distances, plus the magnification can be too high and the FOV too narrow.  For those reasons, I have an Aimpoint Micro on a Daniel Defense offset rail tucked off to the side like some of the 3-gunners use for their mini red dots.  It's easy to roll the rifle over a little to transition to the Aimpoint, and it's accurate enough up to 50 yards (even with my astigmatism) for hunting, etc.  You mentioned you weren't impressed with the Eotech;  if the center dot was a blob of changing shapes and dimensions for you, the Aimpoint will be similar.  If you need a crisp aiming point for the tiniest groups possible at 25 yards, it may not work for you.  If you would like a pix of the scope/offset micro setup so you can judge the bulk and complexity factors, I can send one from my cell to your cell or email.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote penguin6 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2011 at 06:13
Addendum:  I can't see your post from the reply screen, so I wasn't able to reference it on my prior post.  Have you tried your current Mark AR at 25 yds?  It may do fine.  If you have and it doesn't, the lower-powered one should work just fine in terms of being able to clearly see the target.  I've used 3-9 and 2.5-10 scopes to shoot pigs at 10 yds without any focus problems.  I'm not familiar with the Mark AR line, but if the one you have does not have parallax adjustment, it should be in pretty good focus at 25 yds, although you may have some parallax present if it's preset at 100 yds or so.  If you need high levels of precision at 25 yds, you will have to keep your head directly in line with the center of the scope (as much as possible) to negate the parallax that will be present at 25 yds with a scope that has preset parallax at longer distances.  Or, buy one of the adjustable parallax scopes other members can suggest that will adjust down to that distance.  And then, of course, you'll have to shoot at 25 to see where your bullets strike relative to your point of aim so you can adjust accordingly for that particular type of competition.  If you zero your AR at 25 yds, you will be shooting high at the other distances you mentioned, like possibly 6 inches high at 100 and 9 inches high at 200, etc. (depending on your bullet weight), so you may want to maintain your general-purpose zero and figure out where to dial your elevation for the 25 yd stuff.
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leftism View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote leftism Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2011 at 18:00
Thanks for the feedback.

I guess I didn't understand what I was asking when I said "focus down to 25 yards".  As @rjtfroggy pointed out, many scopes can "focus" at shorter distances.

So now that I think about it, I believe my concern is more about parallax adjustment down to 25 yards.

I read the Leupold site again, and found that their 3-9x rimfire scope has a parallax adjustment down to 10 meters.  So I believe that answers my question--that particular scope should work perfectly at 25 yards or meters.

http://leupold.com/hunting-and-shooting/products/scopes/rimfire-riflescopes/vx-ii-3-9x33mm-rimfire-efr/

I will do some testing with my Mark AR 6-18x 40mm to see if the parallax adjustment will go down to 25 yards, but I'll probably go with a smaller scope for 22LR regardless.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2011 at 02:34
Most typical 3-9x (or thereabouts) scopes without separate parallax adjustment will not focus at 25yards when set on 9x.  However, they will usually focus at 25yards when set on a lower magnification (5x or less is typical).

Generally, for precision shooting that close you need to get a scope with adjustable parallax setting, either AO or Side Focus.

ILya
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